


Remedy

by Naemi



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Drama, Gen, Prompt Fic, Sad, Skin Hunger (sort of), angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 17:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2437859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naemi/pseuds/Naemi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mom was warm skin and soft fingertips that would brush Isaac's wild curls from his forehead, wipe away his tears or soothe his pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remedy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/gifts).



> [set in season 3]

 

“Dude. No. Sorry, but no, you can't sleep in my bed again tonight. It's getting . . . ”

“Weird?” Isaac says with a nod. He knows. “I'm sorry.” Now that the McCall's guest room is officially his bedroom, he has no excuse to continue staying with his Alpha at night—none that he could put into words, anyway.

“I know you’ve been through a lot lately, but you can't . . . ”

“I’m not trying to be a nuisance.”

“You're not—” Scott starts, but Isaac is already gone.

~ ~ ~

_Mom was warm skin and soft fingertips that would brush Isaac's wild curls from his forehead, wipe away his tears or soothe his pain. She sang to him when he was sad, and they sang together when he was happy. She was a safe haven, and Isaac loved her with all his heart._

_But he didn't quite understand what that meant until she was gone._

~ ~ ~

The night breeze on Isaac's face is not warm enough to dry the wet tracks on his cheeks. He doesn't care. He sits on the McCall's doorstep with only a jar of Cheese Balls to keep him company. He doesn't even like them much, but they remind him of his childhood, and he needs a taste of that tonight.

Even though it won't lighten his heart.

~ ~ ~

_Camden was lopsided grins and one-armed hugs and a warm body to shield Isaac from the nightmares. He was the best big brother a boy could wish for, but he wasn't Mom._

~ ~ ~

When Melissa's car pulls up in the driveway, everything in Isaac wants to put his misery on display. She's a mother, after all, and a kind soul; he can't imagine her denying him comfort. But she's also a nurse returning home from an undoubtedly exhausting double shift, and thus he dries his eyes and produces a smile that cracks around the edges.

Melissa doesn't seem to notice. She doesn't ask what he's doing out here, but she brings him a hot chocolate a few minutes after disappearing into the house. She sits down beside him with her own cup, and they sip their drinks in silence.

Her smell—buried underneath antiseptics and disease—vaguely reminds Isaac of his mother. He closes his eyes and lets her body warmth and her steady heartbeat calm him.

~ ~ ~

_There was a time when Isaac had ached so much that he decided a hand beating him was better than not being touched at all. He even convinced himself that it was, in fact, affection, not contempt, that moved this very hand. It was okay—until the freezer made its debut._

_Isaac barely remembered his mom anymore, but his dad made sure he never forgot it was his fault that she was gone, as was Camden's death._

_Everything was Isaac's fault._

~ ~ ~

When both their cups are empty and Isaac still hasn't said a word, Melissa gives him a tight hug that almost makes him cry again. He swallows the acid and tries to withdraw, but she won't let him just yet.

“The peculiar thing about help is that no matter how readily people might want to give it to you, you still have to ask for it. You have to want it, Isaac.”

“I'm okay,” he says with a cracking voice that betrays his words.

Melissa hugs him even tighter by way of response before she lets go. “I'm sure you will be.”

~ ~ ~

_Erica and Boyd meant the world to Isaac. Most of the time, despite all the dangers, they were laughter and cuddles and sympathy._

_The memory of his mother had long faded, but Isaac didn't need to remember her that clearly. Not while he had his pack to call family._

~ ~ ~

Isaac can't tell how many hours he spends sitting out there feeling sorry for himself, but judging by the pale sliver of light on the horizon, the sun is ready to set.

Inside the house, Scott's footsteps shuffle from one room to the next, then down the stairs.

Isaac doesn't acknowledge his presence, even when Scott sits down beside him close enough for their knees to touch. Fear paralyzes him; undoubtedly, this is the point where their friendship ends, for nothing good in Isaac's life ever lasts. Regardless of his father's indoctrination, he knows that it's not all his fault, but that doesn't change the fact that rejection and loss are the only constants in his miserable life.

“Dude,” Scott says and nudges him.

Isaac's eyes dart to Scott's face, where they find a smile. He longs to explain himself, but he can't even begin to describe his ache for affection, the overwhelming emptiness that chokes him during every waking moment.

“I'm not a creep.”

Scott nods.

“I'm not . . . I just . . . ” Isaac takes a deep breath.

“It's okay, dude. We'll figure it out.”

Concern and affection are written all over Scott's face, and when he puts his arm around Isaac's shoulders and pulls him even closer, the floodgates open.

Scrambled words describe faded memories, and Isaac thinks his story is incomprehensible, but Scott never cuts him off, and he never backs away. It's been a long road to trust, and it will be an even longer road to recovery, but maybe there is hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **Rounds of Kink** Round 24. Prompt [I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known.] and kink [skin hunger, no sex] submitted by  Morgyn Leri.
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful **Moit** , who also made sure that all characters were returned unharmed.
> 
> [Feedback is love.]


End file.
